Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Personality traits and select socio-demographic variables as predictors of military morale: longitudinal research in the Estonian defence forces Cover

Personality traits and select socio-demographic variables as predictors of military morale: longitudinal research in the Estonian defence forces

By: Antek Kasemaa and  Ülle Säälik  
Open Access
|Apr 2021

References

  1. Aguayo, R., Vargas, C., Cañadas, G. R., & De la Fuente, E. I. (2017). Are socio-demographic factors associated to burnout syndrome in police officers? A correlational meta-analysis. Anales de Psicología, 33(2), pp. 383–392. doi: 10.6018/analesps.33.2.260391.
  2. Ahola, K., Honkonen, T., Isometsä, E., Kalimo, R., Nykyri, E., Koskinen, S., et al. (2006). Burnout in the general population. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 41, p. 11. doi: 10.1007/s00127-005-0011-5.
  3. Akhtar, R., Boustani, L., Tsivrikos, D., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2015). The engageable personality: Personality and trait EI as predictors of work engagement. Personality and Individual Differences, 73, pp. 44–49.
  4. Allport, G. W. (1961). Pattern and Growth in Personality. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York.
  5. Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & ten Brummelhuis, L. L. (2012). Work engagement, performance, and active learning: The role of conscientiousness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 80(2), pp. 555–564.
  6. Bakker, A. B., van der Zee, K. I., Lewig, K. A., & Dollard, M. F. (2002). The relationship between the Big Five personality factors and burnout: A study among volunteer counselors. The Journal of Social Psychology, 135(5), pp. 1–19.
  7. Bartone, P. T., & Adler, A. B. (1999). Cohesion over time in a peacekeeping medical task force. Military Psychology, 11(1), pp. 85–107.
  8. Berry, C. M., Ones, D. S., & Sackett, P. R. (2007). Interpersonal deviance, organizational deviance, and their common correlates: A review and meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), pp. 410–424.
  9. Britt, T. W., Adler, A. B., Bliese, P. D., & Moore, D.-W. (2013). Morale as a moderator of the combat exposure-PTSD symptom relationship. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 26, pp. 1–8.
  10. Britt, T. W., & Dickinson, J. M. (2006). Morale during military operations: A positive psychology approach. In Britt, T. W., Castro, C. A., & Adler, A. B. (eds.), Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat. Volume 1: Military Performance, Praeger Security International, Westport, CT, pp. 157–184.
  11. Britt, T. W., Dickinson, J. M., Moore, D., Castro, C. A., & Adler, A. B. (2007). Correlates and consequences of morale versus depression under stressful conditions. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 12(1), pp. 34–47.
  12. Britt, T. W., & Oliver, K. (2013). Morale and cohesion as contributors to resilience. In Sinclair R. R., & Britt, T. W. (eds.), Building Resilience in Military Personnel: Theory and Practice. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, pp. 47–65.
  13. Bühler, K. E., & Land, T. (2003). Burnout and personality in intensive care: An empirical study. Hospital Topics, 81(4), pp. 5–12.
  14. Chambel, M. J., Castanheira, F., Oliveira-Cruz, F., & Lopes, S. (2015). Work context support and Portuguese soldiers’ well-being: The mediating role of autonomous motivation. Military Psychology, 27(5), pp. 297–310.
  15. Chen, G., & Bliese, P. D. (2002). The role of different levels of leadership in predicting self- and collective efficacy: Evidence for discontinuity. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), pp. 549–556. doi: 10.1037/0021-9010.87.3.549.
  16. Chiaburu, D. S., Oh, I.-S., Berry, C. M., Li, N., & Gardner, R. G. (2011). The five-factor model of personality traits and organizational citizenship behaviors: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(6), pp. 1140–1166.
  17. Child, I. L. (1968). Personality in culture. In Borgatta, E. F., & Lambert, W. W. (eds.), Handbook of Personality Theory and Research. Rand McNally, Chicago, pp. 82–148.
  18. Costa, P. T., & McCrae, R. R. (1995). Domains and facets: Hierarchical personality assessment using the revised NEO personality inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 64(1), pp. 21–50.
  19. Costa, P. T. Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(6), pp. 653–665.
  20. Cotton, P., & Hart, P. M. (2003). Occupational well-being and performance: A review of organizational health research. Australian Psychologist, 28(2), pp. 118–127.
  21. Cremers, M. (2018). Morale of Dutch units deployed in the period 2014–2017. Unpublished presentation in Annual International Military Testing Association Conference in Kingston, Canada 15th–19th of Oct 2018.
  22. Dalal, R. S. (2005). A meta-analysis of the relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and counterproductive work behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), pp. 1241–1255.
  23. Demus, E. (2018). Rahulolu ajateenistusega ja seda mõjutavad tegurid Eesti Kaitseväes [Satisfaction with compulsory military service in the Estonian defense forces and determining factors]. Estonian Journal of Military Studies, 6, pp. 108–137.
  24. Diedenhofen, B., & Musch, J. (2015). cocor: A comprehensive solution for the statistical comparison of correlations. PLoS ONE, 10(4), p. e0121945. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0121945.
  25. Durlak, J. A. (2009). How to select, calculate, and interpret effect sizes. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 34(9), pp. 917–928, doi: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsp004.
  26. Dyches, K. D., Saboe, K. N., Anderson, J. A., Wilk, J. E., Hinman, S. J., Sipos, M. L., et al. (2017). Modeling the indirect association of combat exposure with anger and aggression during combat deployment: The moderating role of perceived unit morale. Military Psychology, 29(4), pp. 260–270.
  27. Erdheim, J., Wang, M., & Zickar, M. J. (2006). Linking the Big Five personality constructs to organizational commitment. Personality and Individual Differences, 41(5), pp. 959–970.
  28. Euwema, M., van Boxmeer, F., Broesder, W., OpdenBuijs, T., Verwijs, C., & Vogelaar, A. (2009). The morale of the peacekeeping warrior. Unpublished presentation in Annual International Military Testing Association Conference in Tartu, Estonia, 2–5 Nov, 2009.
  29. Farley, K. M. J., & Veitch, J. A. (2003). Measuring morale, cohesion and confidence in leadership: What are the implication for leaders? Canadian Journal of Police and Security Services, 1(4), pp. 353–364.
  30. Fennell, J. (2014). Morale and combat performance: An introduction. Journal of Strategic Studies, 37(6–7), pp. 796–798.
  31. Field, A. (2013). Discovering statistics using IMB SPSS statistics. Sage, Los Angeles, US: Thousand Oaks.
  32. Funder, D. C. (2001). Personality. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, pp. 197–221.
  33. Furr, R. M., & Bacharach, V. R. (2014). Psychometrics: An Introduction, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA, US.
  34. Gal, R. (1986). Unit morale: From a theoretical puzzle to an empirical illustration – An Israeli example. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 16(6), pp. 549–564.
  35. Gal, R., & Manning, F. J. (1987). Morale and its components: A cross-national comparison. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 17(4), pp. 369–391.
  36. Garrosa, E., Moreno-Jiménez, B., Liang, Y., & González, J.L. (2008). The relationship between socio-demographic variables, job stressors, Burnout, and Hardy personality in nurses: An exploratory study. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45, pp. 418–427. doi: 10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2006.09.003.
  37. Geldenhuys, M., & Henn, C. M. (2017). The relationship between demographic variables and well-being of women in South African workplaces. South African Journal of Human Resource Management. Gale Academic OneFile (accessed March 4, 2020).
  38. Griffith, J. (1988). Measurement of group cohesion in U.S. army units. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 9(2), pp. 149–171.
  39. Gustafsson, G., Persson, B., Eriksson, S., Norberg, A., & Strandberg, G. (2009). Personality traits among burnt out and non-burnt out health-care personnel at the same workplaces: A pilot study. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 18(5), pp. 336–348.
  40. Haley, L.-M., Mostert, K., & Els, C. (2013). Burnout and work engagement for different age groups: Examining group-level differences and predictors. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 23(2), pp. 283–295 Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281267085_Burnout_and_work_engagement_for_different_age_groups_Examining_group-level_differences_and_predictors [accessed 4 March, 2020].
  41. Halverson, R. R., & Bliese, P. D. (1996). Determinants of soldier support for operation uphold democracy. Armed Forces and Society, 23(1), pp. 81–96.
  42. Hardy, B. (2009). Morale: Definitions, dimensions and measurement. PhD dissertation, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
  43. Herrera, C. J. (2012). Multicultural personality, hardiness, morale, distress and cultural stress in U.S. service members. PhD dissertation, University of Tennessee.
  44. Higgins, E. T. & Scholer, A. A. (2008). When Is Personality Revealed? A Motivated Cognition Approach. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (pp. 182–207). New York: The Higgins, E. T. & Scholer, A. A. (2008). When Is Personality Revealed? A Motivated Cognition Approach. In L. A. Pervin & O. P. John (Eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research (pp. 182–207). New York: The Guilford Press.
  45. Houkes, I., Winants, Y., Twellaar, M., & Verdonk, P. (2011). Development of burnout over time and the causal order of the three dimensions of burnout among male and female GPs. A three-wave panel study. BMC Public Health, 11, p. 240. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-11-240.
  46. Ilies, R., Fulmer, I. S., Spitzmuller, M., & Johnson, M. D. (2009). Personality and citizenship behaviour: The mediating role of job satisfaction. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(4), pp. 945–959.
  47. Inceoglu, I., & Warr, P. (2011). Personality and work engagement. Journal of Personnel Psychology, 10, pp. 177–181. doi: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000045.
  48. Ingraham, L. H., & Manning, F. J. (1981). Cohesion: Who needs it, what is it and how do we get it to them? Military Review, 61(6), pp. 2–12.
  49. Ivey, G. (2014). How's morale? What is morale? In: Ivey, G., Sudom, K., Dean, W. H., & Tremblay, M. (eds.), The Human Dimensions of Operations: A Personnel Research Perspective. Canadian Defence Academy Press, Kingston, pp. 1–24.
  50. Ivey, G. W., Blanc, J.-R. S., & Mantler, J. (2015). An assessment of the overlap between morale and work engagement in a nonoperational military sample. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 20(3), pp. 338–347.
  51. James, J. B., McKechnie, S., & Swanberg, J. (2011). Predicting employee engagement in an age-diverse retail workforce. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(2), 173–196.
  52. Jex, S. M., & Bliese, P. D. (1999). Efficacy beliefs as a moderator of the impact of work-related stressors: A multilevel study. Journal of Applied Psychology, 84(3), pp. 349–361.
  53. Jonsson, E., Gustavsson, B., & Carlstedt, B. (2010). Testing the Netherlands’ morale survey for the Swedish armed forces. In: Presentation in Military Testing Association Annual Conference in Lucerne, Lucerne.
  54. Judge, T. A., Heller, D., & Mount, M. K. (2002). Five-factor model of personality and job satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87(3), pp. 530–541.
  55. Kasemaa, A., & Säälik, Ü. (2021). The development of military morale measurement and its validation in the Estonian defence forces. Unpublished manuscript.
  56. Kim, H. J., Shin, K. H., & Swanger, N. (2009). Burnout and engagement: A comparative analysis using Big Five personality dimensions. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28, pp. 96–104.
  57. Kim, H. J., Shin, K. H., & Umbreit, T. (2007). Hotel job burnout: The role of personality characteristics. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 26(2), pp. 421–434.
  58. Lakens, D. (2013). Calculating and reporting effect sizes to facilitate cumulative science: A practical primer for t-tests and ANOVAs. Frontiers in Psychology, 4, p. 863. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00863.
  59. Langelaan, S., Bakker, A. B., Van Doornen, L. J. P., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2006). Burnout and work engagement: Do individual differences make a difference? Personality and Individual Differences, 40, pp. 521–532.
  60. Lenhard, W., & Lenhard, A. (2016). Calculation of effect sizes. Available at: https://www.psychometrica.de/effect_size.html. Dettelbach (Germany): Psychometrica. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.17823.92329.
  61. Mahboubi, M., Ghahramani, F., Mohammadi, M., Amani, N., Mousavi, S. H., Moradi, F., et al. (2014). Evaluation of work engagement and its determinants in Kermanshah hospitals staff in 2013. Global Journal of Health Science, 7(2), pp. 170–176. doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v7n2p170.
  62. Manning, F. J. (1991). Morale, Cohesion and Esprit de Corps. In: Mangelsdorff, D. A., & Gal, R. (eds.), Handbook of Military Psychology. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester, pp. 451–470.
  63. Manning, F. J. (1994). Morale and cohesion in military psychiatry. In Jones, F. D., Sparacino, L. R., Wilcox, V. L., & Rothberg, J. M. (eds.), Military Psychiatry: Preparing in Peace for War. Falls Church: Office of the Surgeon General Department of the Army, USA, Virginia, pp. 1–19.
  64. Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (1997). The Truth about Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to do About it. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA.
  65. Maugen, S., & Litz, B. T. (2006). Predictors of morale in U.S. peacekeepers. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36(4), pp. 820–836.
  66. McCrae, R. R., & Costa, P. T., Jr. (2008). The five-factor theory of personality. In: John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Pervin, L. A. (eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. NY, London: The Guilford Press, pp. 159–181.
  67. Milgram, A. N., Orenstein, R., & Zafrir, E. (1989). Stressors, personal resources, and social supports in military performance during wartime. Military Psychology, 1(4), pp. 185–199.
  68. Mischel, W., & Shoda, Y. (2008). Toward a unified theory of personality. Integrating dispositions and processing dynamics within the cognitive-affective processing system. In John, O. P., Robins, R. W., & Pervin, L. A. (eds.), Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research. The Guilford Press, New York, pp. 208–241.
  69. Morgan, B., & de Bruin, K. (2010). The relationship between the Big Five personality traits and Burnout in South African university students. South African Journal of Psychology, 40(2), pp. 182–191. doi: 10.1177/008124631004000208.
  70. Motowidlo, S. J., & Borman, W. C. (1977). Behaviorally anchored scales for measuring morale in military units. Journal of Applied Psychology, 62(2), pp. 177–183.
  71. Motowidlo, S. J., & Borman, W. C. (1978). Relationships between military morale, motivation, satisfaction, and unit effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 63(1), pp. 47–52.
  72. Müürsoo, A. (2018). Kui vajalikuks peavad ajateenijad ajateenistust? Mõjutegurid ja hinnangu muutus teenistuse jooksul [How important is compulsory military service in the opinion of conscripts? Influencers and change of ratings during the service period]. Estonian Journal of Military Studies, 6, pp. 52–107.
  73. Parmak, M. (2010). Morale and ethnicity in the military: Psychological coping with conscription in the Estonian Defence Forces. Occasional Paper. Tallinn: International Centre for Defence Studies.
  74. Parmak, M., Mylle, J. J. C., & Konstabel, K. (2021). The soldiers’ personality questionnaire: Validation of a short five-factor model instrument for the Estonian military. Unpublished manuscript.
  75. Patrick, K., & Lavery, J. F. (2007). Burnout in nursing. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 24, pp. 43–48.
  76. Peterson, C., Park, N., & Sweeney, P. J. (2008). Group well-being: morale from positive psychology perspective. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 57, pp. 19–36.
  77. Reed, B. J., Midberry, C., Ortiz, R., Redding, J., & Toole, J. (2011). Morale: The essential intangible. In: Sweeney, P., Matthews, M., and Lester, P. (eds.), Leading in Dangerous Contexts. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, pp. 202–217.
  78. Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological well-being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57(6), pp. 1069–1081. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069.
  79. Salanova, M., Bakker, A. B., & Llorens, S. (2006). Flow at work: Evidence for an upward spiral of personal and organizational resources. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, pp. 1–22, doi: 10.1007/s10902-005-8854-8.
  80. Sawilowsky, S. S. (2009). New effect size rules of thumb. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods, 8(2), pp. 597–599, doi: 10.22237/jmasm/1257035100.
  81. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2004). UWES Utrecht Work Engagement Scale Preliminary Manual. Utrecht: Occupational Health Psychology Unit Utrecht University.
  82. Shamir, B., Brainin, E., Zakay, E., & Popper, M. (2000). Perceived combat readiness as collective efficacy: individual- and group-level analysis. Military Psychology, 12(2), pp. 105–119.
  83. Sharma, A., Goel, A., & Sengupta, S. (2017). How does work engagement vary with employee demography? – Revelations from the Indian IT industry. Procedia Computer Science, 122, pp. 146–153. Elsevier B.V. doi: 10.1016/j.procs.2017.11.353.
  84. Siebold, G. L. (1999). The evolution of the measurement of cohesion. Military Psychology, 11(1), pp. 5–26.
  85. Siebold, G. L. (2006). Military group cohesion. In: Britt, T. W., Castro, C. A., & Adler, A. B. (eds.), Military Performance. Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat: Military Performance. Westport (Conn.): Praeger Security International, pp. 185–201.
  86. Sinclair, R. R., & Tucker, J. S. (2006). Stress-care: An integrated model of individual differences in soldier performance under stress. In: Britt, T. W., Castro, C. A., & Adler, A. B. (eds.), Military Life: The Psychology of Serving in Peace and Combat. Volume 1: Military Performance. Praeger Security International, Westport, CT, pp. 202–231.
  87. Sonnenchein, M. (2007). Sick with Burnout Clarified Through Electronic Diaries. Gildeprint BV, Enschede, Netherlands.
  88. Sonnentag, S., Dormann, C., & Demerouti, E. (2010). Not all days are created equal: The concept of state work engagement. In: Bakker, A. B., & Leiter, M. (eds.), Work Engagement: The Essential in Theory and Research. Psychology Press, New York, NY, pp. 25–38.
  89. Steger, M. F., Littman-Ovadia, H., Miller, M., Menger, L., & Rothmann, S. (2013). Engaging in work even when it is meaningless: Positive affective disposition and meaningful work interact in relation to work engagement. Journal of Career Assessment, 21(2), pp. 348–361. doi: 10.1177/1069072712471517.
  90. Suzuki, Y., Tamesue, D., Asahi, K., & Ishikawa, Y. (2015). Grit and work engagement: A cross-sectional study. PloS One, 10(9). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0137501.
  91. Switek, M. (2012). Life satisfaction in Latin America: A size-of-place analysis. Journal of Development Studies, 48(7), pp. 983–999. doi: 10.1080/00220388.2012.658374.
  92. Tucker, S. J., Sinclair, R. R., & Thomas, J. L. (2005). The multilevel effects of occupational stressors on soldiers’ well-being, organizational attachment and, readiness. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(3), pp. 276–299.
  93. Vaitkus, M., & Griffith, J. (1990). An evaluation of unit replacement on unit cohesion and individual morale in the U.S. army all-volunteer force. Military Psychology, 2(4), pp. 221–239.
  94. van Boxmeer, F., Verwijs, C., & Euwema, M. (2011). Assessing soldiers’ morale in challenging environment. Unpublished presentation in Annual International Military Testing Association Conference in Bali, 30th Oct–03rd Nov, 2011.
  95. van Boxmeer, F., Verwijs, C., de Bruin, R., Duel, J., & Euwema, M. (2007). A direct measure of morale in the Netherlands’ armed forces morale survey: Theoretical puzzle, empirical testing and validation. In: Unpublished presentation in Annual International Military Testing Association Conference in Cold Coast, 8.–12. Oct 2007.
  96. Whitesell, A. A., & Owens, G. P. (2012). The impact of patriotism, morale, and unit cohesion on mental health in veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. Traumatology, 18(1), pp. 1–7.
  97. Xanthopoulou, D., Bakker, A. B., Demerouti, E., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2009). Work engagement and financial returns: A diary study on the role of job and personal resources. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 82(1), pp. 183–200. doi: 10.1348/096317908X285633.
  98. Yildiz Durak, H., & Saritepeci, M. (2019). Occupational burnout and cyberloafing among teachers: Analysis of personality traits, individual and occupational status variables as predictors. The Social Science Journal, 56(1), pp. 69–87, doi: 10.1016/j.soscij.2018.10.011.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jms-2021-0003 | Journal eISSN: 1799-3350 | Journal ISSN: 2242-3524
Language: English
Page range: 22 - 37
Submitted on: Jun 1, 2020
|
Accepted on: Mar 8, 2021
|
Published on: Apr 30, 2021
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

© 2021 Antek Kasemaa, Ülle Säälik, published by National Defense University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.